Baby, It's Cold Outside

Beckett Archibald Graves | Outfit

Before her mother had showed up and practically kidnapped their son, Olivia didn't think anything of the fact that it had been just another weekend. But then it had been about ten o'clock on Saturday, and Jillian had showed up and said that she and her father were going to watch Anderson, and that they needed to go. Olivia knew that her mother knew her well, probably only second to Beckett, for knowing when she had been cooped up in England too long. Really it wasn't even that she had to go all that far... But every once in awhile she needed to go. And Beckett had gone without her last week. She knew that they both had reasons that work pulled them here or there, but if there was one thing that she didn't like, it was sleeping alone. She hadn't had to sleep alone all that often in the last twenty years, but any night that she did have to spend without him made her melancholy, and she was usually a right bitch to anyone that spoke to her the next day. She had spent a lot of nights on her own, waking up to the other side of the bed being cold, when they had first started out. And waking up to a cold bed always made her feel like she needed to shower. It brought back feelings that she wasn't proud of, and that she would never mention aloud. But him coming back home was something that she loved every time. No matter how many nights she ended up on her own. 

They hadn't gone far, and they hadn't been gone all that long this time. Two nights. They had to go back in the morning. They were both due at work first thing in the morning after all. But she thought that her staff could manage to hold down the office for one day with out her, and Beckett's people were going to be fine in the off season without his presence for the eight hours that they neither one had been in the office today that they should have been there. She didn't think that Ares was going to notice, or care, unless the world happened to go to hell while they were gone. But she really didn't think that that was going to be all that much of a problem. They were going to be fine, and go back tomorrow morning to find everything exactly where they had left it. So when her mother had taken Anderson, she had thought that they were going to go somewhere close. Somewhere that she hadn't been in years. And she didn't know if he would even understand, or rather remember, the significance of coming to Belgium of all places, but she did. They had spent their first Christmas together in Belgium. Because it was close enough that if his presence were missed he could make it home quickly enough... But far enough away that they didn't have to worry about being spotted by anyone that would recognize them. There had been a lot of sneaking around back in the day. And Belgium had been their first Christmas.

Wrapping her fingers in his, Olivia turned to smile up at him as they made their way down the sidewalk towards the hotel that was tucked between the muggle hotel on one side, and the abandoned lace shop on the other... The muggles would never have seen it, but they did. The winter wind was cold, and blowing in from the east. Pulling her jacket around her shoulders Olivia couldn't help but laugh as the first of the snowflakes began to fall around them. It hadn't snowed yet in England, and she didn't think that she was ready for it to really snow at all. But the fact that she was in a really good mood after a night out, and a weekend away. Paired with the fact that they were leaving first thing in the morning, made her appreciate the snowy, white flakes that were falling, standing out in sharp contrast with Beckett's dark hair. Grinning, just for tonight, Olivia thought that they could be free of all of the responsibilities that they had now that they hadn't had twenty-three years ago... "It's snowing... I think that officially makes it the holiday season after all." 

BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE

OUTFIT

Usually it was Beck that was planning the surprise trips. He was the one that was talking to Olivia’s colleagues, and everyone necessary to make sure that everything would keep going while she was gone. He made sure her appointments were moved back, he planned where they were going, reserved the spot. Hell, he even researched to figure out the best restaurants to go to, just in case. Sometimes they were more spontaneous and just went out and found something to eat. But on the off chance that they went to Athens, and she was craving Italian food, he liked to know where the best Italian restaurant was. That was just how he was when it came to planning trips. He could do it in a second, could have a trip planned in a few days time, but that didn’t mean that he was unprepared for where they were going. He liked to make sure he had all the information that he needed to ensure his wife wouldn’t go without a pizza if she was craving pizza. But it wasn’t very often that her parents were the ones that got this all thrown together. They had been the ones that had come over and had told them to go, and had taken it upon themselves to babysit Anderson. Beckett had to admit, he didn’t mind being surprised. And there were few places in the world that he liked better than Belgium.

This was where they had come for Christmas together when he had still been married. Everything had been complicated back then, but they had still wanted to spend some time together. This had been the solution. Belgium. It hadn’t been too far away, but it had been far enough. Far enough for them to feel like they had gone anywhere, which was what they needed. He’d rather enjoyed that first Christmas. It had probably been his favorite back then, but since he had divorced his ex-wife, since he and Olivia had gotten to be together for real, there had been plenty of holidays that had topped that one. Their first Christmas together, their first Christmas with Callahan, and then Callahan and Lyla, and then Callahan, Lyla, and Anderson. Those were all good Christmases in his book, and really, they only kept on getting better. While a kid’s first Christmas was special, it wasn’t as if they really remembered it. He’d liked the first one when they were all old enough to enjoy it too. And this one he thought would be another chart topper as well. They tended to be, and it was now their first Christmas spent together actually married. He hadn’t been sure that he was ever going to be to say that, and now he could. That was something.

Beckett knew that it had been a hard year for a lot of people. They had been lucky in most respects, but Olivia had still lost her best friend. Aurora hadn’t been Beck’s favorite person in the world, but Liv had still lost her. He knew that, in some ways, Livvy felt responsible for LJ, for making sure that he was okay. Beckett thought that was important too. He thought that the boy knew that their door was always open to him, whenever he wanted, and he knew that this time of year was going to be particularly hard on him. But he thought that they would all get through it, and then next year would be easier. It would keep getting easier, and he just had to hope that they would stay in power. They would stay in charge, and everything would stay this good. He knew there was a chance that wouldn’t happen, but he wanted to believe that it could. He thought this holiday could top all the rest of them, and it had started this weekend. It had been the first time that it had really felt like the holiday season to him, even if it was just for a weekend. They would go back to England, back to work, but for tonight, nothing else had to matter. Walking down the street, it was hard to believe how much time had passed since their first Christmas here. Twenty-three years. It had been a long time. “About time…” He said, with a grin.

Olivia loved her mother, dearly, and Jillian had known what it was that she had needed. There weren’t all that many times when her mother beat Beckett to that any more, but she thought that her mother knew a little more than Beckett did, how being without him affected her. She did her best to keep those feelings from Beckett. She didn’t want him to have to worry about going and leaving her behind. It was a part of them, sometimes they had to had to leave each other, and they were going to be fine every time. She trusted him, more than she trusted anyone else. Olivia was more than confident in their relationship. She thought that they could have been separated for months, and he would have stayed true to her. It would have been hell, on both of them, to be away from each other like that. But she knew that they could have done it. If anyone could have made something like that work, it would have been them. That was how much she loved him. How much faith she had in them, together. And she liked that. She liked that feeling. She liked knowing that even if they hadn’t been married this whole time, their children had gotten to grow up the same way that she did. With two parents that loved each other. In a home that wasn’t broken, or divided, or even that had all that many problems. They weren’t perfect. Because no one was perfect, but Olivia thought that they were close.

Her mother telling them to go was just one more perfect thing. There were always times when things weren’t perfect, and she expected that. But she would take the perfect where she could get it. Trips were often pretty perfect. Belgium was even more perfect. And right before Christmas… Olivia was almost positive that her mother didn’t know just how perfect it was, but for them it was nostalgic, and it was happy, and she liked feeling happy. There were bound to be some moments in the coming weeks that were going to be anything but fun. They were going to have to contend with Aurora’s birthday, with Christmas… Or she was. She didn’t think that Beckett was going to be bothered all that much about the fact that her best friend had died. But she would be upset, and she knew that he would be concerned about her being upset. She didn’t like to make him worry. She had never wanted to be complicated, or needy. She was Olivia Graves. She had been Olivia Drake for a long time. And she didn’t need him to take care of her. She could take care of herself. But somewhere along the way she had asked herself why? Why she had insisted on taking care of herself, and she had started to let him take care of her too. They took care of each other. And they took care of their children. And she thought that in a lot of ways she had been blessed. It may have had a rocky start, but things had worked themselves out pretty nicely in the end.

She had made him choose, all those years ago, she had told him that he couldn’t have both anymore, that she was worth more than that. And really, she was certain that he was going to have walked away. That she never was going to have him in her bed again. That she was going to have to get over him. Because him walking away from his wife, and choosing her instead had been her hope, but never a real possibility in her mind. Until… Well until she had answered the door, and he had been standing there. Until she had opened the door, and she had known, that she was the only choice all along. Here she remembered that, that she had been happy for a long time, and it was because of the man that she was standing in front of right now. Right now, they were going to be happy, because the rest of the world didn’t matter. Their children were safe, and they were happy, and she just wanted that for all of them. She wanted a sense of peace. “And if it had snowed in England already you would have been grumbling about your feet being cold.” The redhead smirked up at her husband. Knowing that that was exactly the opposite of true. She would have been the one with cold toes, tucking them against him any chance she could get to make them warm again.

It had been a complicated year. He could admit that. There had been plenty that had happened that they… couldn’t have anticipated, and he knew that he was making it a little harder for Olivia. Beck didn’t want to do that. He knew that Aurora had been Olivia’s best friend, other than Odelia. He knew that she mattered to her, and it wasn’t as if he was wishing she would die, or anything like that. He would never wish that on her, or more specifically, he would never wish that on Olivia, on Ares. Olivia cared about Aurora, and he was friends with Ares. He didn’t want his wife to die. But he had always thought that they were… all right. He would have never considered her to be his friend, but they were at least nice to each other. Friendly. He’d had absolutely no problem with her, in the slightest, and then Olivia had told him everything that Aurora had said about him. Usually he didn’t listen to what other people had to say about him or their family, or how they chose to do things. And he knew that letting what she said get to him was stupid, but it had still irritated him.

The woman had been projecting her own insecurities on Olivia, to try to make her question her own relationship, to make her feel as insecure as Aurora clearly did. Just because she was insecure, just because she wasn’t sure about her own relationship, didn’t mean that she needed to attack theirs. Didn’t mean that she needed to attack him. And she had. She had said that it was strange that he got Olivia so many random presents, said that he was possessive, and that making her sleep in their bed when she was sick was controlling. She had decided everything that he did was wrong, and he didn’t know why she had thought that Olivia wouldn’t tell him about that. They didn’t hide that sort of thing from each other. And that had changed his opinion of Aurora. He wasn’t going to tell Olivia that she shouldn’t be around her or anything like that, but he had decided that he didn’t want to be. He could separate himself from his wife’s friend, and not deal with her being nice to his face when she spent all of her time telling Olivia how controlling he was.

He was relieved that Olivia hadn’t listened to her, but that didn’t make him any less annoyed that it had been said to begin with. And then she had died. That had changed things, and made it a bit more complicated, because he wanted to be there for Olivia. He would be there for Olivia, but she was well aware that he wasn’t fond of Aurora. He hadn’t wished her dead or anything like that, but he wasn’t going to miss her either. There was no reason to. Months had passed now, though, and he knew that Olivia was doing better but it was also December. He knew that Aurora’s birthday was something in December… the beginning of the month, if memory served. He thought that was going to be a difficult day, and he wanted to help his wife. It was hard when sometimes she didn’t let him, and she had gotten better at that, but he thought that this was going to be an exception. She was going to think that she couldn’t talk to him about this. She could. Really, he would be there for her the best way that he knew how, even with his opinions of Aurora.

That just wasn’t something that they had to worry about tonight. It wasn’t December yet, and he very much doubted that the woman was who was on Olivia’s mind tonight. He hoped not anyway. He knew when Olivia needed to get away, needed a break, and he thought that this had been timed perfectly. It wasn’t his idea this time around, but he was glad that Jillian had thought of it. It was entirely necessary, and going to Belgium again was absolutely perfect. It had been their first Christmas, and now they were here again. He chuckled at his wife’s words and shook his head. “You would be the one grumbling about the cold, and I would be the one having to warm you up. As always…” That was how it was every winter, not that he minded in the slightest. The first snow was always an exception, and especially since they just so happened to be here instead of at home. He knew that Anderson would be incredibly put out that they got snow and he didn’t, but he would forget that easily once their first snow came along in England.

Getting out of England was good for the soul. That was something that Olivia believed wholeheartedly. She thought that it was good to get away every so often, and she thought that they needed some time together right now. Beckett having to leave for work didn't happen very often, but when it did, Olivia was less than thrilled with the results. She thought that there needed to be something done about that. That she probably needed to be better at dealing with it after this long. But she liked having him there. She didn't even have to be touching him, just knowing that he was in the bed next to her was enough to put her mind at ease. When he wasn't there she just laid there and thought round and around in circles about what it was that could have been happening. About terrible things that could have been happening to him since he wasn't there. And that was ridiculous. She knew that he was just fine, but being without him… She just didn't like it. She didn't like knowing that something could happen, and she wasn't going to know. That she wouldn't be able to get there in time. Because she liked handling things. That was who she was. Not being able to handle things… It made her nervous.

And a nervous Olivia meant that something was likely to get redone. She remodeled a room in the house every time that she got nervous. If anything, she thought that at least it kept the Hall relatively up to date. And she didn't touch certain rooms. His study was still much the same as it had always been. Her office was still very traditional. It looked, well, not the same as it had when she had moved in, because nothing looked exactly the same as it had back then. She hadn't wanted anything that had been Eliza's in the house. She wanted the house, it was wonderful, and the fact that it was Beckett's made her love it all that much more. But it was hers too. In the way that everything that they shared was theirs. She wanted what was best for their family, and she thought that it was just that. It was their family. They were in this together, and that had never changed. Since he had come back to her that night, she had thought that it was them against the world.

Being the mistress wasn't something that she wanted to think about. It wasn't a phase that she liked to talk about. The kids knew, of course, that they were not the example to follow when it came to starting a relationship. But when it came to working at one? When it came to making sure that they were doing their best by the other person… She thought that that was exactly what they needed to see. They needed to see them working together. That it didn't matter what the family structure looked like, it was a stable one. The two of them, together, and it was how it was supposed to be. They weren't perfect, and she didn't expect them to be, but Olivia couldn't deny that she thought that what they had, it was more than special. It was something that only came along once in a lifetime. And she knew that that sounded cheesy, and sappy, and kind of pathetic, but she believed it. She believed that he was the one person that she was supposed to have settled down with. Had kids with. Built this life with. They had done this. This was all theirs, and they got to celebrate that here.

Belgium was special. Belgium would always be special. And she thought that Beckett knew that. It was where they had spent that first Christmas together. It would always have a certain place in her heart. It got her mind off of everything else that it was focused on at home. She didn't have to worry about being anyone's mother here. Anyone's aunt. She wasn't anything but Beckett's wife here, and that was all that she wanted to be. "I think you're awfully mistaken there, Sir. I never grumble. I'm an expert non-complainer." That wasn't even close to the truth, and they both knew it. But Olivia didn't think that either of them really minded. She tried not to actually complain about much. And if she did have something to complain about it was rather… Explosive. She still needed to replace the china that she had destroyed at the end of the League Cup. Throwing it at Beckett hadn't been the most brilliant of ideas that she had ever had, but Olivia thought that there could have been worse things. At least she hadn't tried to hex him. Or Marcus. "And I love the snow." Which was also a bit of a fib, there was a reason that he had bought her a vacation home in the middle of the ocean after all...

Beckett had always enjoyed travelling. It wasn’t something that he got to do as often as he liked, with his job. He was kept busy at the Ministry but that was worth it to him. He had always wanted to head up the department of magical games and sports. He knew that it was hardly the most powerful department in the Ministry, by anyone’s definition. But that was fine with him. He was an ambitious man, but not one who wanted to do something that bored him either. Being the head of magical law enforcement, being the head of the regulation and control of magical creatures, or magical accidents… while they might technically be more important positions in the Ministry, while they might technically be more powerful department heads, Beck didn’t mind. He liked what he did. All he had ever wanted to do was become the head of that particular department, and that was exactly what he had done. So he didn’t mind that sometimes he was kept incredibly busy by it. It was something that he liked to do. It was a job that he was good at, and so he really was fine with how busy he was at work.

It was something that Olivia obviously understood too. She loved what she did. Sometimes she worked longer hours than he did. She had worked incredibly hard to get to where she was--she was the chief legal officer at the Ministry, after all, and that wasn’t something that was easy to achieve. She knew that she was the first person that anyone went to if they had legal problems and she could fix just about everything. She had proven that time and time again, and she had been the reason that he hadn’t been outed as a Death Eater after the war. Beckett didn’t even know how she had done it. Sometimes he just thought it was better not to ask questions. She got the job done. No matter what happened, she always figured out how to sort out the issue. That was the reason that she was the best, so she was often as busy with work as he was. They still managed to figure out time for something like this. Sometimes it was his plan, sometimes it was hers, and sometimes it was her mother’s apparently. Beckett was glad that his mother-in-law had done this, honestly.

He thought that it was something that Liv needed right now and she had seen that. She had gotten this trip all planned out for them. He would have gotten his wife out of the country soon enough too. It was usually pretty obvious to him when she needed to get away, but Jillian had beat him to it this time around. That was fine with him. Not planning the trip was a nice change, and he wasn’t sure that he would have thought of Belgium. It was a place that they didn’t go nearly enough, and he was glad to be back there. To him, trips were always a good idea. It was something that just seemed to run in the family. He knew that his wife had a tendency to decide day trips to Paris or Barcelona or wherever else was a good idea, and it was a habit that was rubbing off on their daughter too. That was fine by him though. He thought that traveling and seeing other cultures was always a good idea. It was a reason why they had a villa in the Maldives and other houses across the world. Eliza had gotten a couple of them in the divorce, but they’d obtained more over the years too.

They didn’t have a house or anything in Belgium. They didn’t need one every single place they went, after all, and they didn’t come here enough to merit a house or even an apartment in the country. And sometimes he rather liked hotels. Beckett thought that this was a good example of such a case. Their hotel in Dinant was rather luxurious, and sometimes that was more relaxing than having a house of their own wherever they were vacationing. It really just tended to depend on the place. Having a flat in Paris, for instance, was a good idea because they could go whenever they wanted and didn’t have to worry about hotels being booked for some reason or another. “Right. You don’t complain, you just throw things at me instead.” It was true that she didn’t often complain, but she did have a temper to make up for that. He thought that he preferred the temper, though, because it was actually pretty amusing when she got pissed off--especially if it was about Quidditch. “You love the snow about one time, and then you want to get away from it.” That worked out rather well, since the best time of year to go to the Maldives was during England’s winter, but for now, they did have snow to contend with. But snow in Belgium was just a little better than snow at home.